Representations of the Japanese Fashion Designers in France and Japan
–Through the Discourse Analysis of the French and Japanese
Newspapers(1981-1992)(日仏における日本人デザイナーの表象―フランスと日本
新聞の言説分析を通して(1981-1992)) written by Kyoko Koma
This work is the research to try to throw right on how French and Japanese newspapers
represent Japanese fashion designers who create “Japanese phenomenon” in Prêt-a-porter of Paris in
1980’s and their works through the Discourse Analysis of French School.
In chapter one, the author tries to show her theoretical base “discourse analysis” to analyse
her question and its significance and possibility in the scientific field of Media Studies.
On ranging extensively over the abundant literature concerning preceding researches, the
author introduces the historical development of theory of French discourse analysis from the
structuralist semiology of Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes to the discourse analysis of French
School. Through this introduction, the author emphasises the importance of the theory of
communication to analyse the media discourse. What’s more, she discusses on the possibility of
introducing this discourse analysis in the scientific field of Medias studies in Japan, especially
dominated traditionally by Sociology and recently by Anglo-Saxon Cultural Studies, who depended
partially on semiology. The attempt of the author to introduce the discourse analysis in the scientific
field of Media Studies especially in Japan is estimated as persuasive and importance.
In chapter two, the author analyses how two French representative national
newspapers ”Le Figaro” ”Libération”, which are oppositely politicized, represent the Japanese
fashion creators and their works, by means of stereotypes on Japan classified into 8 points: Puissance,
Order, Mystery, Refinement, Rigueur, Pragmatism, Past, Modernity. The author throw right on the
abundant usage of stereotype of the violence in her corpus and set up a hypothesis that this usage
would be provoked by the then French social context of 1980’s: then Japanese companies strongly
make inroads into occidental markets; in French society as another societies, ”Japan passing” was
strong. Her detailed discourse analysis connected social context and the corpus ranging over 10
years permit to make her analysis result systematic and persuasive.
What’s more, she throws right on how these French newspapers try to persuade their
readers to believe what they wrote about “Japanese phenomenon” on basing herself on 3
argumentative functions stereotypes posses, that is, logos, ethos and pathos, showed in Rhetoric by
Aristotle. The author develops closely a persuasive argument on existing images of Japan
reproduced and reinforced by mean of stereotypes in her corpus, regardless of political thought each
newspaper possesses.
In chapter three, the author examines how 3 Japanese representative national papers ”Asahi
shinbun” ”Yomiuri shinbun” ”Mainichi shinbun” construct/inform the success of the Japanese
fashion designers discussed in Paris Fashion Business. She analyses thoroughly the way of
argumentation 3 each newspapers do, on focusing on notion of presupposition and on the way of
quoting stereotypes concerning Japan French newspapers used as she discussed in chapter 2.
In her conclusion, on comparing the result of her close analyses, that is, representation of
Japanese fashion designers presented in Japanese and French newspaper, she concludes that even if
Japanese and French newspapers treat the same event, that is, Japanese phenomenon Japanese
fashion designers create in Prêt-a-porter of Paris in 1980’s, each newspaper interprets this
phenomenon relevantly and creates different representation from it according to each social context.